Romanian government under pressure as 500,000 protest

An estimated 500,000 protesters rallied in
Romania's capital, Bucharest, following a government climbdown over a
contentious corruption decree in the face of week-long mass
demonstrations.

Fulfilling a promise made late on Saturday,
the government announced on Sunday it had approved the withdrawal of
controversial executive order that would have decriminalised certain
grant offences and protected politicians from prosecution.

The ruling coalition led by Prime Minister
Sorin Grindeanu had originally approved the ordinance late on Tuesday,
with no input from the country's parliament, sparking the biggest demonstrations in the country in decades.

After repealing the decree, Grindeanu asked
the justice minister to prepare a draft law to be sent to parliament for
debate and approval.

The centre-left Social Democratic Party has a
parliamentary majority with a junior partner. President Klaus Iohannis,
who is expected to speak later on Sunday, then needs to sign off on the
legislation.

Yet, the
announcement did not stop demonstrators from gathering for a sixth
consecutive day, as massive crowds poured into Bucharest's Victory
Square to protest against what they deem an alarming retreat in the
country's fight against corruption.

"It has gone, the amendments are history, but the protesters are still not trusting the prime minister," Al Jazeera's David Chater, reporting from the capital, Bucharest, said.

The controversial decree prompted the biggest mass protests in the country since 1989 [Stoyan Nenov/Reuters]

Chater said demonstrators were questioning Grindeanu's competence, calling for him and his government to "go".

"Why did he try and rush through this
legislation? What else will happen? They [protesters] are not happy with
the way things are going," Chater said.

"They want the government and the prime
minister to step down," he added. "They want a clear democratic
transparent government and they're making sure that their protest is
heard."

Chater said more than 200,000 people had gathered in the Bucharest protest.

"It's going to be a record turnout across the country. It's already approaching half a million."

Later, on Sunday, local broadcasters also
reported that about 500,000 protesters had taken to the streets
nationwide, including 40,000 in Timisoara and 45,000 in Cluj-Napoca, as
well as in a string other cities and towns.

Grindeanu said on Saturday he would scrap the measure, as requested by Iohannis, as he did not want to "divide Romania".

The decree was to make abuse of power a crime only punishable by jail if the sums involved exceeded 200,000 lei ($47,500).

Grindeanu's government said it would align the
penal code with the constitution, but critics saw it as a clear attempt
by the ruling party to let off many of its own officials and policy
makers.

The street protests have been on a scale not seen since the fall of communist leader Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989.

Romanian government under pressure as 500,000 protest
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